Leading Through Crisis

Leading Through Crisis
By Robert Few

I was recently speaking with a good friend of mine that was currently going through some big challenges at work. His company had spent the last year executing an aggressive acquisition campaign. The company and employees were in great spirits, the end of year off site meeting was a huge success with the CEO and sales teams celebrating a huge growth year in what I imagine was the proverbial chest pounding, champagne glass toasting, back slapping kind of way (think Wolf of Wall Street meets Boiler Room).

But then came the time to integrate and digest the acquisitions into the existing business, their systems, processes, and procedures. And that is where the bottom fell out. No matter how similar businesses seem to be, I guarantee there are extremely specific things they do differently in operating those companies.

In a rush to consolidate systems and reduce redundant costs by the end of their fiscal year, this company merged all the new customers into their database in a brazen copy/paste manner. It took about 3 months before all the bubble gum and duct tape that held the companies together started to peel off. Customers started to complain that services were not working correctly, the call center was overloaded, IT systems failed, the sales teams went into duck and cover mode, there was only so much money the CEO could throw at the issues, then came the cancelations, the reductions in work force, uncertainty among the staff, you know the rest.

We will save how to successfully integrate acquisitions for another time, for today, let’s focus on how to respond, if you ever find yourself in a position like this, given your current restraints.

In the time of crisis, it is easy to get stuck in the mix of fighting fires as they flare up, but giving a little of your attention to a lot of things is not the answer, and certainly will not get you back on track any quicker. So, how can you move the needle forward in the next 30 days that will have a net positive effect in the next 90?

Set expectations, internally and externally. In this time of crisis, over communication is a good thing, but it needs to be the right communication. Communication should be genuine and honest. It should be clear and direct. Overly scripted communications are insincere and often have the opposite effect intended.

I have seen first-hand how one CEO responded to some backlash about a comment he had posted. There was nothing wrong or offensive about his comment; however, in today’s often ridiculous world of being overly PC, someone misconstrued it on social media. He then issued what I would call an over correction that was obviously drafted by HR. In the process he lost a lot of respect from his team and clients by cowering and over correcting on something that didn’t warrant an apology or correction. The result was that he was no longer viewed as a strong leader that could stand up to controversy and defend himself or his team. It was obvious that the response was not authentic and uncovered weakness. Strong leadership through crisis is critical to drive resolution and get things back on track. You must lead and demonstrate strength, conviction, and the will to persevere to your team. If you do that, you will create believers in you and the plan, and your team will follow and do everything it takes to weather the storm!

Start by looking at each functional area of your business and how the issue is affecting it. A crisis team should exist in your company today that is ready for the next issue to pop up. Prepare now before there is an issue. Most companies have a weekly staff meeting with the senior leaders of every division in their company. This is where that team starts. If a major issue affects your company, you want to be able to quickly bring in information from every area of your business as well as have the ability to deliver up to date and pertinent information to your teams quickly.

This team should have a weekly meeting that runs through each department and how it is being affected or how they are responding to the issue. KPI’s need to be set to track progress and a daily 15-minute huddle should be instituted to ensure any side issues or flare ups are called out immediately. Your sales and operations teams cannot wait a week to report back to customers on improvements. The more information they are armed with, the easier their jobs become.

Here are a few things you can be doing to manage through the crisis:
Operations

Streamlining your business operations can help reduce costs and improve overall efficiency. Look for ways to automate tasks, outsource non-core activities, or renegotiate vendor contracts to increase profitability.
You can not simply onboard new staff in such a short period of time, so think about ways to incentive schedule optimization, shifts based on volume and potentially overtime where needed.
Reach out to your customers that are affected by the issues, share your short- and long-term plans, milestones, and goals to get their buy in and support.
Communication is key in crisis mode, many times your operation is the front-line employees, make sure this team understands and buys into the plan. They are the ones that need to sell it to the direct customer.

Sales

It is often more cost-effective to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Implement customer loyalty programs, reach out to past customers with exclusive offers, and ensure you provide excellent customer service to encourage repeat business.
Keep your sales team positive! In crisis mode, sales teams often have the habit of going negative and blaming poor performance or the loss of sales on “operations.”
Like operations, communication with your sales team is imperative. Openly share the issues, status of the plan and share KPI’s so they can be transparent and communicate improvements or setbacks with their clients.

Marketing

Marketing needs to be completely in the loop. They will need to message how the company is dealing with the issue along the way.
They also need to be ready to relaunch once the issues are resolved so they can bring energy back to the company, both internally and externally.

By implementing these strategies over the next 30 days, you can set a solid foundation for business growth in the following 90 days. It is essential to stay proactive, monitor your progress, and adjust as needed to ensure long-term success.

When looking at mistakes, missed opportunities and failures, my friend Kevin Madden says, “we call it tuition,” I will add to it saying, “the tuition was extremely costly, but the lessons learned were priceless.”